A/HRC/43/63 designed to protect and improve humanity by building intelligence and character. Young people should have opportunities to build a global awareness of their own agency, including the establishment of educational mechanisms aimed at practising citizenship. It was important to engage all children, including the most vulnerable and those traditionally left behind. Every child should have access to an education deliberately designed for them and their future. As some actors worked against human rights and sustainable development, there was a need for partnerships to engage in dialogue with such actors in ways that empowered them to change. Communications skills, storytelling, organizing and conflict resolution were crucial in that regard. Education must be human-centred, research-driven, flexible and brave in the face of the challenges that the world faced. Ms. Monteith called for collective action to empower youth and prepare them to advance the welfare of the whole human race. 50. The Secretary-General of the Qatar National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, Hamda Hassan Abd-al-Rahman Abu Za’in Al-Sulaiti, focused on child and youth education and the economic and cognitive empowerment of young people. Education promoted economic, political and social participation, and developed a culture of global citizenship and interest in national issues, loyalty, and a sense of belonging. Ms. Al-Sulaiti highlighted the importance of building a knowledgeable human base for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Education developed skills that contributed to a healthier life for children and young people, including through self-control, decision-making skills, ethical rules, community engagement and integration. There were four types of empowerment: cognitive, social, political and economic. Ms. Al-Sulaiti emphasized the economic empowerment model, and particularly the Al-Fakhoora programme applied across the Middle East. It included services such as psychosocial support and medical care in marginalized areas, and reconstruction of education infrastructure. The cognitive empowerment model that Qatar employed focused on developing a knowledge-based economy by promoting innovation and scientific research in youth and preparing them for university education. 51. Alex Conte, director of Child Rights Connect, examined education as a tool for empowering children and promoting human rights. Education should be a lifelong and participatory process, develop knowledge, skills and attitudes to defend and promote human rights, and prepare children for responsible life in a free society. For the Committee on the Rights of the Child 2018 day of general discussion on children as human rights defenders, Child Rights Connect and Queen’s University Belfast had conducted consultations with 2,700 children from 53 countries. These children had called for quality, inclusive, universal and accessible education, adapted to those left behind. Children underlined that real empowerment required engaging, involving and preparing them, in appropriate language, and with reference to children’s lived experiences. Children should be taught how to identify and address human rights violations, participate in decision-making processes, and resolve conflict and bullying. Educating children to be human rights defenders allowed them to empower other children, express themselves and develop opinions. Education needed to shift from informational to practical: providing children with means and confidence to claim their rights and those of others through participation at school and in broader contexts, including the United Nations. 52. Jorge Cardona, a professor at the University of Valencia and former member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, argued that inclusive education was necessary to empower all children, regardless of their abilities. Democratic societies valued and appreciated diversity and built social, political, economic and cultural structures to allow all to exercise their rights on an equal basis. Inclusive education systems should adapt to all races, cultures, religions and abilities and teach children to live in diversity, recognizing their equal right to do so. Children should not be encouraged to compete against each other, but rather to compare themselves against their potential according to their own characteristics, feeling unique in their identities and equal in their rights. The cost of adopting inclusive education was much lower than the long-term costs of a non-inclusive society. The Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities had established a working group to harmonize their interpretation of the rights of children with disabilities, including in relation to inclusive education, bringing the recommendations of the former committee closer to those in general comment 14